Category archive: 365 Blog

Day 134: What am I thankful for? As I write this post tomorrow will be Thanksgiving. So, I felt obligated to let the world know what I am thankful for. First, I am thankful for my wife of 28 years. We have been through things that I hope most never have to endure. I am…

Day 133: How important are web analytics. Or, maybe the better question is what do you do with the analytics you have. The best reason to have analytics is to monitor the effectiveness of your marketing programs and website. Everything you do should cause the business to go to your website, or gasp, pick up…

Day 132: Why is the media important in my community? While you may think there is an obvious answer, not all communities are blessed with community minded media. Over the years there have been a lot of consolidations in the newspaper and radio industry. The internet has also made a huge dent on ad sales. …

Day 131: Dashboards: I have heard some say dashboards are trendy. I don’t know why they would say that other than maybe they don’t want to be measured to make sure they are doing their jobs. Sorry. We like dashboards. We even developed a product called EDashboard. It is an app but can also be…

Day 130: Where do I tell my story? Social media is always a great idea. I have touched on that on Days 7, 8, 9, 52, 84, 85, 94, 110 . So certainly take advantage of all the social media avenues. But success stories such as an existing business expansion should be told in your…

Day 129: How do I tell my story? As referenced in the post, economic development needs to do a much better job telling our stories. The funny thing is I have seen several clients get in some sort of trouble when they tell their stories. The City or some organization takes issue when your organization…

Day 128: Is economic development dead? I have been reading articles and opinions this year that keep suggesting economic development organizations are becoming obsolete or that they are doing the wrong things. It is an interesting thought. I will have to say that our executive search work is getting harder. We do have to work…

Day 127: Help is on the way! As I have stated a few times before, you are typically the only person in your community that does what you do. So, you have to rely on others to help you get the job done. In the economic development community, there seems to be some resistance to…

Day 126: How do I organize these start-ups? Here is a shameless plug for our entrepreneurial eco-system called Evisthrive, www.evisthrive.com There are other systems out there but this is probably one of the few that is affordable, comprehensive and sustainable. It builds a system for you to reach the start-ups and offer them useful tools. …

Day 125: How do I find the start-ups? No matter the size of your community it can be hard to identify the start-ups. But there are several ways. First, is you need to find one. Typically that one start-up knows of other start-ups in the community and they can help you. The search becomes organic…

The business of economic development encompasses a broad range of strategies including business retention and attraction, entrepreneurship, workforce development and the attraction of talent, tourism, place branding and marketing, product development, and community planning to enhance the quality of place. The bottom line - to generate new wealth and growth.